Geeks On Tour Newsletter    Subscribe to this Newsletter     September 2, 2007

Internet on the Road

We are currently staying in a Thousand Trails park called Pio Pico, just east of San Diego. We're down in a valley surrounded by some pretty big hills. It's very nice, but not a good situation for cell phones - or Internet 'aircards' that also work off of cell towers. We have Verizon for our phones and we have no service whatsoever. Not even one bar. We plugged into our Wilson antenna, still nothing, just a little icon of a phone with a line thru it! Thank goodness for our satellite dish - we have Internet no problem. I can do without the phone as long as I have Internet!

We've asked the people who work here at the park, if there is any cell service that they've found. They tell us, "Oh sure, just walk up to the family clubhouse. You can get signal for Verizon and Sprint right by the basketball court." Ha! Sure enough, we walked up to the basketball court and we could get signal. Some enterprising guest had found an unused chair and placed it on the hill - just in the right spot.

We are always talking to other RVers about how they connect to the Internet while traveling. Aircards from Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and others are getting more and more popular as a method to connect laptops to the Internet. We were talking to a neighbor here in Pio Pico who was bragging, "I don't need a satellite dish, my aircard works great! It's worked every place we've been."

"Even here?", I asked.

"Oh, well, no - I meant everywhere except here." he replied

When he wants the Internet here, he takes his laptop and the aircard and drives 5-10 miles down the road. Then he pulls into an empty parking lot and connects there. He could also use the free Wi-Fi hotspot in the clubhouse. Isn't it amazing how important the Internet has become to us RVers?!

I see several lessons to be learned here:

1. Internet access is prevalent enough that you can (almost) always find it if you're willing to work a little. For example, drive 10 miles or carry your laptop to a park office, local Internet cafe, or library.
2. Aircards *are* getting better and better - but don't believe anyone that tells you they work everywhere!
3. There is no such thing as one perfect method of accessing the Internet on the road. Our satellite dish comes the closest, but even that has trouble with trees, and it can be prone to technical difficulties. We've had ours almost 4 years and technical difficulties have only affected us for a few days in that whole time. I credit Jim with our 'luck'. When there is a problem, he knows what to do, or who to call. He also knows when to do nothing because it's a problem with the Network Operations Center ... just wait and it will come back.

If you absolutely, positively must have Internet on the road - then you need to utilize all 3 methods. The satellite dish is your best bet, then have an aircard, (we hear the best stories from Verizon customers) and, of course, know how to utilize available Wi-Fi hotspots. The more you learn, the better success you'll have.

Google Earth and Sky

From Jim:
Google Earth is one of the coolest programs out there.  I have been using the program since it was called Keyhole.  It just keeps getting better and better. The earth comes alive as you navigate around the globe viewing satellite images that create the mosaic.  Zoom in on points of interest.  Add your own places to maps and save them.  You can even share them via email.

Last week, Google launched Google Sky. Sky works with Google Earth. It incorporates over 100 million stars and 200 million galaxies! Just like with Google Earth, you can zoom in and out. There are photographs taken by the Hubble Telescope by NASA and others. The various layers will show supernova explosions and other amazing galactic phenomena.

I never get tired of Google Earth.  There is so much to explore on our own planet. Google Sky is a nice addition!  Explore strange new worlds.

In order to use Google Sky, you must download the latest version of Google Earth from earth.google.com. It is version 4.2. Then, on the View menu, you will see the option for viewing the sky. It will view the sky directly above the currently displayed place on earth. So, if you want to see the sky from the southern hemisphere - first go to Australia in Google Earth - then, click on View Sky.

For Beginners: 'My Documents'

One of our students this week in Pio Pico was a woman, Maryann, who is writing a book. I'm looking forward to it being published - she interviewed dozens of women who were in the Navy in WWII - sounds like some awesome stories! She was concerned that the documents that are the chapters of her book seemed to be on her computer in two places. She did have some duplication, but the main issue was the confusion about the 'My Documents' folder. It appears to be in two places, but it actually only exists once. The second location is a special shortcut because the My Documents folder is so important.

You computer is a giant storage unit. It contains operating system software, application programs, and files that you create - photos and documents etc. It keeps all this stuff on it's hard drives (disks) inside the computer, usually disk 'C' also referred to by the notation C:. Then it organizes the stuff into 'folders'. There is a folder for the Windows XP operating system, there is a folder for your programs like Word, Excel or DeLorme. You should never have to mess with these folders. All the files you create should go in the 'My Documents' folder. That's what it's for, *your* documents. My Pictures is a subfolder of My Documents. If all of your personal files go in the My Documents folder, then it's an easy matter to do backups. Just backup the My Documents folder (that automatically gets all sub-folders) and you know you've backed up all the unreplaceable files on your computer. There are a few notable exceptions, for example, Outlook email messages are stored somewhere other than My Documents. You can find where the location is (and change it) by clicking on File/Data File Management.

When you click on Start - you'll see an option for 'My Computer' as well as for 'My Documents'. Choose 'My Documents' and it will be less confusing when working with your personal files. If you choose, 'My Computer', you can also get to your documents, but it will have a name like Chris's Documents or Jim's Documents. That's why it looks like there are two sets. But when you're logged in as Chris, then Chris's documents is the same as My Documents.

For a tutorial on how to use the My Documents folder, go to GeeksOnTour.com and click on the link to Computer Training Videos: Essential Skills.

That's all for now. We're just trying to stay cool here in 100+ degree weather east of San Diego. We're in no hurry to be on our way to Arizona which is next on our itinerary!

Thanks for reading. Your next issue will be in a couple weeks. Any questions, please email us.

Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com